Miss Trendy

Test; a word a teenager knows well. 7 periods, 7 subjects, 5 days a week, for 9 months meant lots of study times to prepare for exams. Just one test could make or break your report card.

Losing my grandmother, watching my mother grieve, and seeing the back of my father’s head as he left for long hours at work…presented an opportunity for a 13 year old girl to search for affection elsewhere. With the rage of new pop music I memorized lyrics such as; it’s your thing, do what you want to do; if loving you is wrong, I don’t want to be right; imagine there’s no religion; and she’s buying a stairway to heaven. “Goodbye hymns…hello rock ‘n roll!”

The world said, “There are no do not’s. Do whatever feels good to you.” Surely, God didn’t mean for my life to be miserable. So, I fabricated my ‘own’ family—my peers. Besides, I come from a denomination that believes in ‘once saved, always saved’. At 7 I was very sincere in my decision to follow Christ, but as a teenager, with estranged family members, I wondered far away.

As I drifted further away from Jesus the pinhole in my heart grew to be a crater. Dissatisfaction created an appetite for more satisfaction, which led to more dissatisfaction as desperate attempts to find ways to numb my pain only brought destruction. I failed the test of faith as a teen and young adult and began to question whether I was a Christ-Follower; seemed like I was more of a Trend-Follower because ‘I couldn’t get no…satisfaction'.

Hebrews 5:12 says, “In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!”

In other words…I chose to stay an infant. Ignorant of God’s Word.

Are you still on formula? Perhaps you need to learn to crawl back to Jesus so you can run in a race that leads to fulfillment. Or…were you sincere to begin with?

What Happens After You Say "I Do"?

Once you’ve said, “I do” to Jesus Christ, then you will never have another worry or care in the world, right? Wrong. One would assume the presence of God’s Son would shield us from any further struggles, but that was never a promise God made. What He did promise was He would be ‘with’ us during our trials but not that we would be trail-less.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I accepted Jesus at the age of 7 years old. My grandfather, who was my pastor, baptized me by immersion to represent the decision I had made at the Billy Graham Crusade. The act of my Pop-Pop placing me under water was to represent that I am now buried with Christ, and then raised to a resurrected life. This ordinance was to show others I believed in Christ with all of my heart. Baptism did not save me…it was done to show others I accepted Jesus.

I enjoyed my new life as I became more active in church choir, missionary activities, and Bible study. I loved going to church. Not only did my entire family go there, too, but the whole church became my family. Was so easy to take this perfect lifestyle for granted and trust that God would always protect us as we served Him wholeheartedly.

But, on February 3, 1968 my ideal world stood still after one phone call. A nurse called to encourage us to get to the hospital as soon as possible. My grandmother stopped breathing while recovering from a simple removal of her gall bladder the day before. She died instantly with no success of being revived. We were devastated and from that day on my family fell apart. My perfect world was terribly shaken. I made the decision, at the age of 13,to stop going to church for awhile. Just way too many memories of Granny. Besides…why would God allow this to happen?

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” James 1:2-3

Have you been tested?

Is Transformation Necessary

For the past 13 weeks we have examined what would be necessary for a spiritual transformation. To tenderize a heart takes action for often we build a fortress around our heart to protect us from pain.

I learned this lesson as a 7 year old playing in my backyard. I knew there had to be someone greater than my daddy to make the grass and trees. Daddy only mowed and trimmed.

At church I heard about a man named Jesus who would take away my sins so I could live with God forever and ever. I thought about what it would mean to give my heart away to Jesus and give Him permission to live in it. I, also, wondered how a great big man would get into my little girl heart. It required childlike faith to believe in something I could not see but could feel.

I tapped my mother on the arm and said, “I have to go down.” She whispered, “Are you sure?” With blonde curls and big brown eyes I starred at her with great conviction and replied, “Yes.” No doubt God was speaking to my heart. My mother stood up, grabbed my hand, walked down the long row of steps, and on to the baseball field at a Billy Graham Crusade.

Perhaps I didn’t understand everything I was doing but three things I did know; 1) I knew I did some things wrong and was a sinner, 2) I needed someone who could forgive me and love me in spite of my imperfections, 3) I wanted to start over and have Him forever in my life and that someone was Jesus—the One whose sacrifice paid the price for all time.

…He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Mark 10:14-15

Have you gone to Jesus with childlike faith today? Go to Abba (Daddy) and place every care you have in His lap. He’s waiting for you with open arms.


Next week we will start the third series called “Will It Be Easy or Painful”.

Once and For All

Sin cost. How do I know? I’m a slow-learner. The cost is unsettling in my soul. The disruption leads me to either run to find another sin to numb the anxiousness or causes me to fall on my knees with regret, because there is no worse feeling than that of being separated from God.

Atonement for sin is nothing new. Starting in Genesis, animal sacrifices were presented to God as a means of restitution. Atonement—satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury—to make amends. The cost was, and is, the same…bloodshed.

Hebrews Chapter 9 reminds us of how atonement was practiced in the Old Testament, then shares the provision of the New Testament. The temporary practice of animal sacrifices was to only lead to a permanent solution.

God loved us so much that He gave a sinless, perfect, and unblemished gift, Jesus. No longer would a perfect animal be needed to be our replacement. His only son would be more than sufficient for not only past sins but the ones yet to be committed. He took the place of all.

“But when the Messiah arrived, high priest of the superior things of this new covenant, he bypassed the old tent and its trappings in this created world and went straight into heaven's "tent"—the true Holy Place—once and for all. He also bypassed the sacrifices consisting of goat and calf blood, instead using his own blood as the price to set us free once and for all. If that animal blood and the other rituals of purification were effective in cleaning up certain matters of our religion and behavior, think how much more the blood of Christ cleans up our whole lives, inside and out. Through the Spirit, Christ offered himself as an unblemished sacrifice, freeing us from all those dead-end efforts to make ourselves respectable, so that we can live all out for God.” Hebrews 9:11-14 The Message translation.

Accept God’s greatest gift as His Son’s blood-transfusion brings life to your soul. There has been no sweeter gift to this world.